Artists

News

Best Blues Out Now via Jagjaguwar

Apr 05, 2017By Christopher Roberts

Small Black released their latest album, Best Blues, back in 2015via Jagjaguwar. Now the band has shared a video for Best Blues track "Between Leos." Directed by Jeremy S. Collins, it features two Foley artists as they do the sound effects for a film. More

Wild Nothing's Life of Pause Out Now via Captured Tracks; Small Black's Best Blues Out Now via Jagjaguwar

Sep 20, 2016By Christopher Roberts

Wild Nothing (aka Jack Tatum) released a somewhat underrated new album, Life of Pause, back inFebruary via Captured Tracks (and Bella Union in the U.K.). Now the band has announced a fresh range of fall tour dates, many being dates on a joint tour with Small Black, who also released an underappreciated album earlier this year, Best Blues. More

Best Blues Out Now via Jagjaguwar

Jan 22, 2016By Christopher Roberts

Small Black released their latest album, Best Blues, back in October via Jagjaguwar. Now the band has shared a Wild Nothing (aka Jack Tatum) remix of one of Best Blues' standout tracks, "Boys Life." Small Black have also announced some new tour dates. The remix and tour dates are below. And of course Wild Nothing is releasing his new album, Life of Pause, onFebruary 19 via Captured Tracks (and Bella Union in the U.K.).

Best Blues Due Out October 16 via Jagjaguwar

Jul 30, 2015By Christopher Roberts

Small Black have announced a new album, Best Blues, and shared the first single from it, "Boys Life." Best Blues is due out October 16 via Jagjaguwar, is the band's third full-length, and is the follow-up to 2013's underrated Limits of Desirefull-length and 2014'sReal People EP.More

The Barefoot Bandit Leaves His Mark Once Again

Apr 04, 2014By Cody Ray Shafer

Minutes before Small Black's energetic and dance-fueled set at one of Under the Radar's SXSW 2014 parties last month, they were lamenting the somber feeling that hovered in the atmosphere, amid the cool spring breeze and food truck smells. More

Lineups Also Includes We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, Connan Mockasin, Arthur Beatrice, Gruff Rhys, The Mary Onettes, Small Black, Thumpers, Woman's Hour, and Others

Our Favorite Visuals of the Year

Jan 03, 2014By Mike Hilleary

While the days of watching music videos on television are long gone, over the past several years the visual art form has certainly found second life (like so many other things) as an excellent online commodity. More

"I dressed up as Garfield in sixth grade and I was definitely too old for it and got ridiculed all day at school." - Josh Kolenik

Oct 31, 2013By Mark Redfern

We sent out the same set of Halloween-related questions to a bunch of different musicians. All Halloween week we are posting their responses. Here are some spooky answers from Josh Kolenik of Small Black. More

Josh Hayden Kolenik on the cover of Limits of Desire

Jun 21, 2013By Laura Studarus

Undercover is our new recurring series where we talk to bands about the genesis of one of their album covers. Here we talk to Small Black's Josh Hayden Kolenik about the cover of Limits of Desire. More

Out May 14

May 06, 2013By Mike Hilleary

After promoting their new album Limits of Desire with a music video, an upcoming art exhibition in New York and their their very own inspired beer, synth-pop group Small Black have finally come forward to share the record itself with a full stream online. More

Interviews

For Under the Radar's 13th annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to 2015. We asked them about their favorite albums of the year and their thoughts on various notable 2015 news stories involving either the music industry or world events, as well as some quirkier personal questions. Here are some answers from Josh Kolenik of Small Black. Small Black's latest album, Best Blues, was released last fall by Jagjaguwar. A shorter version of this interview ran in the Best of 2015 print issue, which is still on newsstands now. More

The Barefoot Bandit Leaves His Mark Once Again

Apr 04, 2014By Cody Ray Shafer

Minutes before Small Black's energetic and dance-fueled set at one of Under the Radar's SXSW 2014 parties last month, they were lamenting the somber feeling that hovered in the atmosphere, amid the cool spring breeze and food truck smells. More

"I dressed up as Garfield in sixth grade and I was definitely too old for it and got ridiculed all day at school." - Josh Kolenik

Oct 31, 2013By Mark Redfern

We sent out the same set of Halloween-related questions to a bunch of different musicians. All Halloween week we are posting their responses. Here are some spooky answers from Josh Kolenik of Small Black. More

Craving Connections

Sep 25, 2013By Laura Studarus

To kick off work on their second full-length, Limits of Desire, Brooklyn-based quartet Small Black (Ryan Heyner, Josh Hayden Kolenik, Juan Pieczanski, and Jeff Curtin) skipped town to isolate themselves from big-city distractions and temporarily took up residence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. More

Josh Hayden Kolenik on the cover of Limits of Desire

Jun 21, 2013By Laura Studarus

Undercover is our new recurring series where we talk to bands about the genesis of one of their album covers. Here we talk to Small Black's Josh Hayden Kolenik about the cover of Limits of Desire. More

Reviews

Best Blues

Jagjaguwar

Nov 20, 2015By Lily Moayeri

Small Black's third album, Best Blues, opens with swells and crashes. This is the Brooklyn-based group's initial template for the first third of Best Blues, whose songs start on an assertive note. This quickly dissolves into murky self-reflection, but in an engaging, curiosity-inducing way-at least for the most part. More

Real People EP

Jagjaguwar

May 21, 2014By Lily Moayeri

Small Black quickly follows its 2013 sophomore full-length, Limits of Desire, with the Real People EP. Guest artist Frankie Rose's vocals blend into the tones of Small Black's Josh Kolenik on the fizzing dance-pop title track, a strong starter to the EP. More

Limits of Desire

Jagjaguwar

Jun 03, 2013By Darren Loucaides

"I've been keeping my, keeping myself from you/Hoping you, hoping you just come to." Such are the softly uttered lyrics that kick off Small Black's second album, Limits of Desire, another exercise in '80s-tinged dream-pop after 2010's debut, New Chain. More

Under the Radar SXSW Party Recap: DIIV, Small Black, Poolside, Shout Out Louds and More